Lost: Of Maps and Treasure Hunts
by CaptainSwanSolo
Summary: Emma and Killian find themselves lost in the Storybrooke woods when Emma refuses to let Killian read the map


**Hi everyone! This is the first time I'm writing so I really hope you like it. Please RR. Any comments and constructive criticism would be much appreciated!**

 **Disclaimer: No, unfortunately I don't own OUAT or any of these characters.**

 _ **Edit: there were some grammatical mistakes which needed fixing. Other than that the story hasn't changed at all.**_

Three hours. Three. Bloody. Hours.

One would think that finding a relatively large campsite in the middle of the Storybrooke Woods wouldn't take so long, but that's exactly how long Emma and Killian had been looking for, and Killian had had enough. He stepped over a fallen tree - which they'd crossed for the fifth bloody time, might he add - and stopped.

"You know, if you'd allowed me to read the bloody map we'd have been there by now," he sighed, exasperatedly.

"And if you hadn't challenged me on my map reading skills I would have let you read it," Emma retorted, spinning around to face him.

"Don't push the blame onto me Swan. You know full well this is your doing and your doing alone."

"Yeah, right, and what makes you so sure you'd have found it by now?" She asked, stepping closer with each word until there was but a foot between them. "It's a hidden camp. It's supposed to be difficult to find."

The camp was set up deep in the woods by Regina and Henry and was supposed to be the final stop for the contestants of the Storybrooke Treasure Hunt. It was an idea suggested by Henry to add some "fun" to everyone's lives, and since they'd all been through so much over the past few years, more or less everyone had agreed to take part in some way. The rules were that everyone paired up and followed a number of clues which would eventually lead to them to the camp, and Killian and Emma had found the last clue - the map - three hours ago.

Killian rolled his eyes. "Pirate!" he stated in stated in reply, as if it was the most obvious answer in the world (which it was, not that Emma would ever admit it). "Who's led us to most of the clues till now, love?"

Emma huffed, mostly at herself for asking such a stupid question. "That doesn't prove anything," she threw back defiantly.

Killian chuckled. "You keep telling yourself that, princess." He leaned in so their lips were almost touching before continuing. "Hand it over and we may win this yet."

A shiver made its way down Emma's spine. How could he have such an effect on her so easily? Still, she knew what he was trying to do and she was not going to give into him. "No," she managed, her voice coming out breathier than intended. " _I'm_ going to get us there."

Killian grinned at her devilishly. It was her only warning before he crashed his lips onto hers and made a grab for the map at the same time, swiping it off her. He held the kiss for a few seconds longer before pulling away triumphantly.

Emma's eyes widened as she realised he'd successfully taken the map. "Hey! That's not fair!" she yelled at him, watching as he began to walk away. "You cheating bastard!"

Killian shot her a positively sinful smirk over his shoulder before turning his attention to the map. "Pirate, darling! Not playing fair is what I do. Now let's see how exactly we reach this campsite of yours."

He spent a moment looking at the map then turned to look at Emma again, who was by now at his side. Emma saw the baffled look on her pirate's face and felt a little smug. "What's the matter, _Pirate_? Can't read the map?"

"Actually, love, I'm utterly puzzled as to how you were able to lead us astray. This map is one of the easiest I've ever laid eyes on. Honestly, Swan, there's even a grid to help!"

Emma felt an embarrassed blush creep up her cheeks. That sure as hell wasn't what she was expecting. "Don't make fun of me!" she pouted. "I haven't had to read a map in years. We have GPS in this world."

"GPS?" Killian asked. He remembered Henry mentioning it once. _Must be used for navigating_ he thought. Emma simply rolled her eyes.

"It's like a map, but it tells you where to go, so you don't have to work it out yourself." A look of recognition settled on Killian's face.

"That would explain your lack of map reading abilities," he concluded. He pecked her lips before taking another quick look at the map and continuing. "According to this, we go ten paces north, twelve east, over the toll bridge and straight on to the campsite. We'll arrive there within minutes. See, easy."

Emma narrowed her eyes at Killian's smug tone and pouted again (god, she hadn't pouted this much her whole life). She then tugged at his arm, causing him to stumble forwards slightly, and began walking in said direction. "Come on then, Jones. Better get there before they start wondering what we're up to."

Killian raised his brow suggestively to her comment and Emma once again rolled her eyes (another thing she seemed to do a lot around him). "I don't think they'll miss us too much yet. Like I said, we may still win this."

Emma gave him a doubtful look. "We've been trudging around these damn woods for three hours. How the hell can we still win?"

"Because, thanks to me, we were able to get through our clues at a lightening pace. Your parents were in second place when we found the map and had only managed to solve five of the ten clues in the first two hours. Taking into account the next five were much trickier to solve, it's not far-fetched to assume it'd take at least three more hours for them to get to the camp, the amount of time we've been wondering aimlessly for. And, if their navigation skills are even half as awful as yours, we may yet have hours before they reach us."

Emma contemplated his logic and had to agree. They did, surprisingly, still have a chance to win. She nodded at Killian and paced purposefully in the direction he had said the camp was in.

"Someone's eager to win," Killian quipped, catching up with her in a few long strides. This caused Emma to roll her eyes a third time, earning a grin from him, and the two walked the rest of the short journey to the camp in a companionable silence.

When they arrived they saw that they were indeed the first to do so, and so were awarded with the winners medals. Snow and Charming walked in casually at that exact moment, but paused when they realised Emma and Killian had only just arrived too. Snow looked at them quizzically.

"Wha- how- you just got here?" she asked, clearly confused.

Emma and Killian nodded, at which David added, "but you were so far ahead of us. You've been wondering the woods for _three hours_?"

Killian and Emma nodded again, grimacing when Regina pinned them down with a suspicious stare. "Miss Swan, what exactly were you and your pirate up to?" she asked, the suggestion in the question evident.

Killian raised his eyebrow at Emma. Emma winced. "Umm... Well... we kind of-"

"My dear Emma, lovely as she is, is also stubborn as hell and has absolutely no bloody idea how to read a map. As a result, we've wondered these woods for the last three hours until I finally coaxed it from her and led us here. You can count on me teaching her a thing or two about navigation sometime very soon."

Emma hit Killian on the arm for cutting it and mocking her so bluntly, while everyone else stared in disbelief for a moment before bursting out with laughter. When he'd got a hold of himself, Henry walked up to Emma with an almost sympathetic look. "Mom, you really didn't let a pirate read a map?"

Everyone laughed once more at this and Emma blushed, but Killian pulled her into a one armed hug and gave her a lingering kiss. David cleared his throat pointedly and Killian and Emma pulled away, laughing as well. "Mate, you shall have to get used to it eventually," Killian laughed.

"Not going to happen anytime soon, _mate_ ," came David's not-so-pleased reply. He turned to everyone else and continued, "I'm starving. Let's eat!"

Everyone mumbled various forms of agreement as they settled themselves on the large picnic blanket laid out on the ground. The day went on and as more people arrived the atmosphere livened up more and more. Belle and Ruby came third (Rumplestiltskin had decided to sit out, opting to help with the preparation instead), followed by the dwarfs (who refused to be split) and Robin and Little John. The rest of Storybrooke had joined them by the time the sun had set and all in all it was a fun day.

At some point during the evening Killian managed to whisk Emma away to a clearing just beyond the line of sight of the other campers. "What do you want?" Emma asked lightly as he dragged her a little further out of earshot. She was smiling widely, hair slightly dishevelled from the day's activities and cheeks flushed from the heat and continuous partying. To Killian, she had never looked more beautiful.

"Nothing," he smiled in return, love evident in his eyes, and kissed her full on the lips. Emma slanted her head slightly and deepened the kiss, to which Killian responded in kind. After a moment or two, Killian pulled away abruptly and smirked. "I will say one thing though. Next time, I read the map."

Emma let out a genuine laugh and hit him playfully on the chest. "Duly noted, Captain. Now, where were we..." She leaned in again and this time when their lips met there was no breaking them apart. This day, no matter how long, frustrating, and quite frankly, at times, boring, had been one of the best of their lives, and neither would have wanted it any other way.


End file.
